Playoff talk II

--Watching Canadien fans get worked into a fervor inside the Bell Centre to watch Montreal dethrone Pittsburgh on television in Game 7 Wednesday, one can't but think that the success of the Montreal Canadiens is good for hockey in general.

--Eighth-seeded Montreal surely has the attention of Ducks center Saku Koivu. As a Canadien for 13 seasons, including 10 as captain, Koivu never advanced past the second round and missed the playoffs entirely five times.

Montreal still has not named a captain since Koivu's departure.

--Montreal rookie defenseman P.K. Subban was taken 43rd overall in the 2007 draft. The player picked 42nd was former Ducks prospect Eric Tangradi, who was the bonus piece in the trade that sent Chris Kunitz to Pittsburghfor Ryan Whitney.

Tangradi is the Penguins' top prospect. He made his NHL debut in Pittsburgh's regular season finale on April 11.

--Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak has Southern California ties. Say whaaa? Yep. Halak played 11 games for the defunct Long Beach Ice Dogs of the ECHL in the 2005-06 season.

--Chicago center Dave Bolland was a teammate of Ducks winger Corey Perry on the London Knights. The 2004-05 team tore up the Ontario Hockey League by going 59-7-2, which included a 32-game undefeated streak.

The Knights won the Memorial Cup by defeating a Rimouski Oceanic team that had a center named Sidney Crosby.

--Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton, who won his first playoff start Wednesday (and first start since March 16), is a former Ducks farmhand. The Ducks lost him to the waiver wire in 2006.

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